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Patients suffer as doctors on strike
As the ongoing junior doctors strike entered third day on Monday, patient services were partly hit in SVR Ruia Hospital. Junior doctors went on strike from Saturday demanding the government to release five-month pending stipend. Despite of their repeated representations to the hospital Superintendent, doctors say they were not paid the stipend.
Tirupati: As the ongoing junior doctors strike entered third day on Monday, patient services were partly hit in SVR Ruia Hospital. Junior doctors went on strike from Saturday demanding the government to release five-month pending stipend. Despite of their repeated representations to the hospital Superintendent, doctors say they were not paid the stipend.
Highlights:
- Strike enters third day on Monday at Ruia Hospital
- Collector instructed Ruia Superintendent to pay one-month stipend from HDS funds
- Jr Doctors Assn demands govt to pay two-month stipend
In each shift, a medical officer and junior doctors have to look after the casualty ward. On Monday, the hospital authorities have posted an additional medical officer in the casualty in view of the junior doctors strike. In several wards, only nurses were present and they were attending the patients.
A nurse said that they were overburdened in the absence of junior doctors. Meanwhile, junior doctors have organised a dharna at the entrance of Ruia Hospital on Monday and raised slogans for justice. Sources on condition of anonymity said that the District Collector PS Pradyumna asked Superintendent
Dr B Sidda Naik immediately to pay one-month stipend to them from the Hospital Development Society (HDS) funds so that they can be recouped after the amount is released by the Director of Medical Education (DME). When contacted, the Superintendent said that amount was already in treasury. He informed that he was told by the DME the funds were frozen.
“The stipend would be paid to doctors from the HDS if the funds were not released from the treasury,” he averred. On the other hand, the leaders of the Junior Doctors Association have tried to meet Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas and Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu in Amaravati on Monday.
As they were not available, one senior official in the Finance department has assured them that the amount will be released in two days. It may be noted that the PG doctors were also not getting stipend for the last three months.
They are also planning to go on strike from Wednesday. In such a case, the plight of the patients will be more severe as most of the work in various departments was handled by PG and junior doctors only. Junior Doctors Association vice-president Dr PS Vishnu Bhardwaj said that they will go ahead with strike unless at least two months stipend is credited into their
accounts.
He stated that only 50 doctors will get stipend from treasury as bills for the remaining 87 were not submitted to the treasury by hospital authorities so far. We will continue strike till everyone gets two months stipend, he
underlined.
By V Pradeep Kumar
